Black Corporation: Joseon

As hair-washing houses for men gained popularity, those for women began to spring up like bamboo shoots after rain.

While wealthy noble women could have their maidservants wash their hair, it was inconvenient for women from less affluent households to do so.

Hair-washing houses were exactly what these women desperately wanted. What made them so desirable was the gache (wig).

Gache wasn’t exclusively for wealthy noble.

***

Not only common women but also gisaeng and women from moderately well-off households all considered gache essential.

The only differences were in size, what ornaments were attached, and how it was placed on their own hair.

Women of the royal family and wealthy noble wore eogeomeori adorned with lavish binyeo (ornamental hairpins). Women from moderately well-off commoner households wore gaesumerori or teuremori.

First-class and second-class gisaeng wore voluminous teuremori like hats. These teuremori were adorned with precious ornaments made of gold, silver, and jewels.

Even tavern owners selling alcohol and food at inns and women from poor households styled their hair in komori, decorating it with daenggi (hair ribbons) to look fashionable.

(Note 1)

***

In this situation where gache was commonplace, hygiene issues were more serious for women of lower classes than for upper-class women wearing eogeomeori.

While eogeomeori was a separate piece placed on top of one’s natural hair, teuremori and komori were created by interweaving one’s own hair with hair pieces.

As a result, women with teuremori and komori could only wash their hair while it was styled or wash and dry it in a long braid after removing the binyeo. (Note 2)

Due to these circumstances, hair-washing houses for women became popular.

One difference between women’s and men’s hair-washing houses was that baskets to hold the untied gache were essential for women.

***

“I don’t understand why they can’t give up something so inconvenient…”

Whenever Hyang saw this situation, he grumbled with a pout. However, he never uttered such comments in the presence of women.

It was because of the memory of being frozen by the murderous aura emitted by women when he had spoken thoughtlessly last time.

“Both gache and topknots… What’s with that pride…”

Just as women competed over the size of gache and the ornaments attached to it, well-to-do men competed over things related to their topknots.

Even excluding the gwan (hat) used to prevent the topknot from coming undone, which was only allowed for the royal family, the manggeon (headband) that had recently become fashionable was an expensive item.

This was because manggeon was made from horsehair.

Men without money either wore headbands made of cotton or hemp around their topknots or went around with bare topknots.

The competition among men started with manggeon.

They competed over the material of the gwanja (ornament) that fastened the manggeon’s string, the size and material of the pungjam (hat string ornament) that acted as a chin strap to prevent the hat from flying away in the wind, the material of the donggot (men’s hairpin), and the material of the saljeongmiri used to push back the sideburns that peeked out from under the manggeon.

[TL/N: https://www.dellacivetta.org/lorenzo/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/IMG_0277-768×1024.jpeg (Manggeon. Sort of a head cap before putting on a hat]

For the noble, the competition extended to the material of the decorative string attached to their hats.

Those without money used bamboo or wood pieces, but the wealthier they were, the more they used expensive jewels like jade or coral, starting with gold and silver.

Of course, Hyang, being the Crown Prince, wore a splendid gwan and manggeon that had quite a bit of money invested in them.

Looking at his own topknot decorated with gold, silver, and various precious gems, Hyang chuckled and muttered,

“Whether it’s the 21st century or now, it’s all about looking ‘effortlessly chic’…”

***

People showing off with various accessories was the same whether it was now or in the 21st century.

If men and women in Joseon now showed off with topknots and gache, in the 21st century, it was watches and luxury bags.

Especially for men in the 21st century, to boast about their success, they had to own at least a few expensive mechanical wristwatches.

It was the 21st century where reasonably priced, incredibly accurate quartz watches and digital watches were abundant, and hipsters showing off their individuality with various types of smartwatches were everywhere.

However, on the wrists of men universally acknowledged as successful were mechanical wristwatches boasting history and tradition.

Even if they didn’t wear them usually or wore smartwatches, it was an unwritten rule to wear mechanical wristwatches at formal occasions or places where they needed to show off.

The rule for showing off these things was to appear ‘effortlessly chic’ rather than blatantly boasting.

For men, the proper way to show off was to casually reveal the watch while running their hand through their hair or stroking their chin with a contemplative look. For women, it was to nonchalantly place their bag on the table or carry it while walking.

The same was true in Joseon.

For women, the basic etiquette was to greet visitors with a nonchalant face without showing off their gache adorned with lavish ornaments. For men, it was to subtly show off by lightly lifting their hat to look into the distance.

***

While Hyang was grumbling about gache and topknots that seemed like they would never change, Joseon society continued to evolve.

The biggest change was that fabric shops across Joseon began to distribute a wide variety of colored fabrics in large quantities.

***

For generations, the Korean people were known for their preference for white clothes. This preference was recorded even in the Dongyi section of the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

However, contrary to this, the murals in Goguryeo tombs and the Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang show people wearing clothes of vibrant colors.

But in Joseon, from the time of King Taejo, there were numerous royal edicts saying ‘Do not wear white clothes,’ yet the people insisted on wearing white.

However, recently, dyed fabrics began to be distributed in large quantities.

Upon receiving the report, Hyang tilted his head.

“Why?”

Unable to contain his curiosity, Hyang investigated to find the reason.

After searching through an enormous amount of records and pondering deeply, Hyang came to the most plausible conclusion.

“As expected… Because they can afford to eat better now?”

That was the most likely reason.

Mulling over his conclusion, Hyang turned his gaze to the distance and muttered,

“It’s been a while since I thought of Teacher Samcheonpo…”

***

In the middle of his lecture, Teacher Samcheonpo went off on another tangent.

“Our people are called the ‘white-clad folk,’ but if you look at related records, they also wore colorful clothes well. So why are we called the ‘white-clad folk’? Records show that from the time of Joseon’s King Taejo, there were continuous royal edicts saying ‘Do not wear white clothes,’ but if you look at the writings and photos taken by foreigners at the end of the Joseon period, everyone is wearing white. Looking at this alone, you’d have to conclude that our people were addicted to white clothes.

But let’s think about it from a different angle.

The main reason kings forbade white clothes was based on the Five Elements theory.

Since Joseon was east of China, according to the Five Elements, wearing blue clothes was proper. But why did the people wear white?

The officially recorded times were the late Goryeo to early Joseon period, and the late Joseon period. What’s the common factor? They were times when everything was in shambles due to war and barely recovering.

When you’re struggling to make ends meet, who has time to dye clothes? Look at the end of the Joseon period too.

What happened right before that?

There was the era of in-law politics. It was a time when life was so hard that there were even peasant rebellions.

And during the subsequent Japanese colonial period, people wore only white clothes out of spite, not wanting to please the Japanese who told them to wear colorful clothes.

So, my conclusion is this:

Our people aren’t some perverts who go crazy at the sight of white.

It’s just that when they lacked economic resources, they wore white clothes because they were the easiest to maintain.

They say dyeing clothes white is expensive, but if you boil them in lye water a few times, you get a nice white color. (Note 3) If you doubt it, just look at Shin Yun-bok’s paintings. See if the women in the paintings are only wearing white clothes…”

As he was explaining his own theory, Teacher Samcheonpo digressed even further.

“Ah, shit! Talking about colors reminds me of another infuriating memory. When I was in college, I read an article by a Japanese sociologist in the library. While criticizing the ‘body-con’ (Body Conscious, a skin-tight mini dress) fashion that was popular in Japan at the time, he rambled on like this:

‘As can be seen from the elegant lines of the roofs of Joseon palaces and temples, and hanbok, Joseon had lines, while Japan had vibrant colors as seen in kimono. But now it seems to be the opposite, which is regrettable.’

Do you know what my first thought was when I read this?

‘Are this bastard’s eyes just for decoration? You saw the roofs of palaces and temples, but missed the dancheong (colorful paintwork) underneath? What nonsense is this from people who couldn’t even wear proper clothes until the Tang Dynasty? If you’re curious, Google ‘Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang.'”

***

After confirming that Joseon’s clothing was gradually changing, Hyang immediately went to see Sejong.

“…You want to create a ‘Joseon Clothing Illustration’ that records the current clothing of Joseon? Why?”

To Sejong’s question, Hyang immediately explained the reason.

“The clothes worn by our Joseon people embody traditions passed down from the ancient Samhan, or even further back, from ancient Joseon. However, just as the clothes from those times are not exactly the same as the clothes now, clothing continues to change. Therefore, we need to record this so that our descendants in the distant future can properly understand the principles behind how these clothes came to be.”

“Hmm…”

At Hyang’s words, Sejong stroked his beard, deep in thought.

Heo Jo, who was listening to Hyang’s proposal, expressed doubt about his words.

“Even a three-year-old child knows that our clothing contains traditions from ancient times. Isn’t it unnecessary to record this?”

Hyang immediately responded to Heo Jo’s point.

“As time passes, there will be those who will insist that our things are theirs.”

“Pardon?”

While Heo Jo and the ministers were expressing doubt at Hyang’s words, Sejong interjected.

“Could it be that you’re worried about the Goryeo style?”

‘As expected, Father! Sejong the Greater!’

Hyang brightened and immediately nodded.

“That’s right! Since the Yuan Dynasty, many of our clothing styles have spread to China. Therefore, we need to clearly establish this! In the distant future, they will use the fact that we were their vassal state as a basis to claim that they transmitted our clothing styles to us.”

Heo Jo again refuted Hyang’s words.

“But the term ‘Goryeo style’ itself…”

“What if they insist that even those Goryeo things originally came from China?”

Hyang’s interrupting question silenced Heo Jo.

Hyang continued to emphasize that this was absolutely necessary.

“From the Yuan Dynasty until now, the Goryeo style has been spreading in China, and even in Japan, our clothing and culture are gradually spreading through the Dae family! Ming and Japan won’t acknowledge this due to their pride. Therefore, we need to create definitive evidence by leaving documents and illustrations in advance. We need to clearly record and distinguish what came from Ming as having come from Ming to prevent future false claims.”

In the end, Sejong accepted Hyang’s argument.

“It’s clear that this will take a lot of time and effort, but it’s appropriate to leave a definite record. Considering the nature of the task, it seems best for the Ministry of Education to take the lead. Other departments should also provide assistance for smooth progress.”

At Sejong’s order, the ministers bowed their heads and replied.

“We receive your command.”

And the court historians were recording all of this.

Bowing his head along with the ministers, Hyang glanced at the historians and clenched his fist hidden in his sleeve.

‘Yes! It’s now in the official record!’

***

“Phew~.”

After the meeting ended, Jo Gye-saeng sighed while looking at the distant sky as he left Geunjeongjeon Hall.

Seeing this, Maeng Sa-seong, who was passing by, comforted him.

“Cheer up, Minister. It will be arduous work, but with support from other departments, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

At Maeng Sa-seong’s words, Jo Gye-saeng’s face turned gloomy.

“I have a feeling that this won’t end with just clothing, but that it’s only the beginning.”

“Ah…”

***

(Note 1)

https://m.blog.naver.com/nadakik/221060642371

(Note 2)

You can see how women bathe in Shin Yun-bok’s painting “Dano Festival”.

(Note 3)

http://pub.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?cate=C03&nNewsNumb=20150417129&nidx=17167

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